The Halls are Decked

This past week we have been very busy getting ready for Christmas. The halls are decked, and I've been adding a few new little things this year. One of my favorites is floating ornaments..I got the idea from someone else and thought it would be fun. So they are hanging over our island in the Kitchen. And I plan on changing it each season/holiday so check back to see what will be next.

I have also been busy making homemade candies. This is something my family does every year, we usually do it altogether but I had to work the day they did it so I just did it on my own. I had my nieces over last week and they had a great time helping with it. They also helped me make tags to go on the gifts. I added a new favorite this year called pretzel hugs. I posted it on the recipe blog you can check it out, I did Christmas M&M's this time. These are the little gifts boxes I filled with the homemade candy.

Not to mention the annual Christmas cards I send out. I know these probably aren't that important since most of the people we give them to we see quiet often. But I enjoy doing it and being able to look back each year and see what we did. This year I attempted to make digital cards (with the help of Gina) it was a lot harder than I thought. I'm not that savvy at photoshop yet, but I like how they turned out.

Well in the last week I was able to accomplish all the shopping, baking, mailing, and wrapping that I had to do and now I can just sit back and enjoy the season. I have also finished Birthday shopping for both my hubby and Tyler whose birthdays are the week after Christmas. Well I do still have to help my mom wrap, I am one of those weird people that really enjoys wrapping, and I don't have that much myself so I help her every year. I am also weird in the fact that I have to have matching wrapping paper and bows for that year. So this year you can see the colors below.

My sweet husband surprised me and bought tickets to The Forgotten Carols, which I am absolutely in love with. I have never seen it, but I could listen to the CD year round. It was so good and I loved it. We have attended two Christmas parties already and they both have been really fun. We had a big family party for my mom's side with games, and a pinata for the kids. And we had a surprise visit from Santa, which surprisingly Tyler was very upset about. He has been talking about Christmas and Santa for at least a month, but once he seen him forget it he wanted nothing to do with it. Oh well maybe next year. We also did a Sub for Santa and we brought all the gifts to the party. I took Tyler shopping with me and explained to him why we were buying gifts for other people. Hopefully he understood it somewhat. Then this past Friday we went to my Work Christmas party at the Little America. (pic below) I always love going to this because it's the one time a year we get to dress up nice and go to dinner, and the best part is we don't even have to pay for it, and the food is delicious. It's just a nice relaxing evening with no kids, and I always look forward to it.

Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season as well.

Grateful for the SEASON!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. It forces me to recognize all the things I have to be grateful for, I wish that I was aware of it more often. But these are just of few things I was thinking of today.

Thanksgiving..I know it usually gets skipped over. It seems we are all in a rush for Christmas to come. But I am glad we take the time to enjoy a day with our family. This year we were with Kevin's family, and we had so much fun.

Family...I don't know what I would do without them. It's like the old saying "You can't live with them, you can't live without them." It's so true, but I love them all. I'm glad they listen to me complain, and they are always willing to take care of my little man.

My Husband...He works so hard for us, and he hasn't had a lot of time over the past few years with every going on in his life. But he keeps going and for that I am grateful. I love him so much, and I can't imagine life without him.

My Little Boy...He is my everything I spend more time with him than anybody else, and although some days that makes me crazy. I am so grateful that I have all this one on one time with him, and I hope some day he will look back and remember it, and be glad. I know I'm not always the best at being a mom, but I'm glad I have the opportunity that I can improve.

My Savior...I know we tend to think of Christ more this time of year, but during this time in my life I need every reminder I can get to think of the wonderful blessings I have because of him. I have made it a goal lately that if ever I am down, I try to turn my mind and heart to the spirit. It doesn't usually take away the problem, but it helps me gain a different perspective and have peace. I am so blessed to know I have a Father in Heaven who is mindful of me, and that I have a wonderful brother who suffered for my sins so I would not have to.

The Temple...We went to temple square the other night to look at the lights, and I couldn't help but think how blessed we are to have all these beautiful temples so close by. I know I don't get there as often as I would like, but I love the spirit it brings just being on the temple grounds even when you can't make it inside.

Christmas...I love the music (I have been listening to it since before thanksgiving). The spirit of giving..my family does a sub for Santa every year, and this year Ty is old enough that we can actually explains to him that we are buying clothes for other little children that don't have as many as we do. And it makes me feel so good inside to know that we are helping others, and that I can show that to him so he understands. And especially the reason for the season..CHRIST, also this year we are trying to get Tyler to understand more why we celebrate Christmas, I figure if he can understand about Santa, he needs to know about the birth of our Savior.

Trials

Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things

shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and

remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one

with another. --D&C 90:24

Life can hand you some pretty interesting things when you least expect it. I was just thinking the other day that things are finally starting to settle down for us. We moved into our new house and it's finally becoming a home. Kevin got a promotion at work that he has been trying to get for awhile, and we were feeling good about things. Then all the sudden something happens that changes your perspective in life. Naturally when challenges come our way we tend to go to our Heavenly Father for help, we try to be a better person and we commit to making changes that we know we already should be doing.

I recently read a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time".

As I read the title I new that immediately this applied to me. We all experience difficult things in life, and it's okay to go to the Lord and tell him "Hope ya know I'm having a hard time." I know that he cares about me and that he will see me through this hardship that I am facing, even though right now it feels like my whole world has come crashing down. A quote in this talk gave me some comfort...


“My son (daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

I won't go into details of what happened, but I will say that this is one of the most difficult things I have had to face. I am on an emotional roller coaster..some days are good some days are bad. But I am comforted in knowing that I have a wonderful family and husband that cares about me and that they are there for me day and night. I have a good friend who has also been there for me, and I can't even tell her how much her friendship means to me. Life is challenging and stressful and even disappointing at times. But we must not give up we must press onward and make the best of what we have. We are often reminded that when we are struggling and when it's most difficult for us..is when we should be serving others.

President Thomas S Monson said.
“Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.”

We don't always know when other people are struggling and most likely we never will, but if we remember to be a friend..always, then we won't have regrets as to if we weren't there for someone when they might have needed us the most. This is a reminder to myself that I need to do better, and like I said most often we have to go through trials to remind us of these things. But there is a reason for all things and the Lord wants us to grow and to learn from these trials, and I hope that, that is exactly what I can do.

President Hinckley Stand A Little Taller:

Reach Beyond yourself (November 10)

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. --Mosiah 4:16

October Fun

Besides getting our own individual family Pics..Kev's family decided it was time to get family pictures of the whole clan. Mind you this consist of about 27 people and 13 of them are children, so just picture this as you are looking at these. We went to Memory Grove behind the capitol. It was a beautiful day and the fall colors were gorgeous. I don't have one of the whole group yet these are just ones that I have taken. I also didn't get every family sorry Kris and Devin. We were not that happy with the photographer so I'm sure we will be redoing these in another few years. Oh well this is our family now.

We have been super busy this fall with moving and trying to get settled..but we did manage to get down to Gardner Village. Everybody is always talking about it and I thought Tyler might enjoy it. So last Monday we made the trek with my Aunt (who is also one of my good friends). We had a lot of fun..who would've thought, but Tyler loved the witches and all the pumpkins. We also went on a pony ride he thought that was pretty cool too. So everybody had the same idea we had because it was absolutely packed, but the kids still enjoyed themselves.

We Also managed to make it over the ward Halloween party for a few minutes. So needless to say Tyler wasn't dressed up since we came straight from family pics, but him and princess Aria still had fun. We were super busy that day, but we wanted to support the new Activities Committee since we've been there done that. And they did an awesome job, especially on such short notice.

This pic is for black mail later in life..aren't they so cute though

Our Family Photos

2008 Family Photos

On September 29, 2008 we went to Wheeler Farm, and had our family Pictures taken. We had so much fun, and our photographer did an awesome job. Thanks Melissa, if you are interested you can check her out here. Tyler was so energetic and loved looking at the animals and the various things that were going on. I'm so glad we did these photos, I can't wait to put them up in our home. And even though Kev wasn't too excited to take family photos, I think he is very happy with how they turned out. We also did some individual shots of Ty for his 3 year, which is coming up soon. I can't even believe it.

We've Moved

Our new address:

176 Boston Court

Phone 296-1619

I know can you believe the snow! Well anyway feel free to stop by anytime to see us. We are still a mess but it's coming along. And can I just say I love how much storage space I have!

Potty Training 101

So I have finally made the plunge to potty train. Mind you this is something I have been dreading since the day Tyler was born. I have heard so many horror stories about potty training and that boys are so much harder. I just haven't wanted to do it, but the other day we were almost out of diapers so my options were: spend $40 on diapers..or start potty training.

Guess what I chose..and am I regretting it..yes a little.

Items to get started..
*20 pairs of potty pants
*treats of Tyler's choice
*juice and lots of fluids to drink
*extra blankets and sheets
*Noah's Ark and a lot of animals
*Patience and TIME

What can I say there is no easy way to potty train your child unless you are Gina and you child does it herself. But it has to be done, so my friend Nikki at work gave me a copy of the book she used that's called how to Potty Train in 3 days...did it work might you ask?

Well kind of, he isn't completely potty trained, we still have accidents and he still can't make it through the night, but it's only day 5. He did however learn the concept in 3 days, and I agree with her methods completely. Her entire point of the first 3 days is to catch your child in every accident they have and run them to the bathroom in the middle of it..this trains them to recognize when they have to go potty and what it feels like. Tyler actually caught onto this really well. He just has trouble stopping what he's doing to go potty. You are also not suppose to ask them if they need to go potty, because they will most likely say NO. But you gently remind them at least 1,000 times a day to tell mommy if you have to go potty, after awhile when I would say this he would say yes I do, and it makes him feel like he made the choice. But like I said we aren't completely there, but I'm hoping another week will do the trick. Nikki trained her little guy in less than 2 weeks (even through the night) using this method and he is 2 months younger than Tyler. So cross your fingers for me because I'm hoping to have him trained before we move into our new house, so hopefully I can avoid the accidents on my new carpet.


The basket is full of presents which are animals that go to the Ark, so every time he tells me he has to go potty and he makes it..he gets to open a present. Luckily we have a lot of animals to go with it. But he gets so excited and wants everybody to watch him open it. I am so proud of you Big Boy!

Good News

Goods news..we have only one week left until we close on our new home. We are so excited..the stresses of doing sweat equity have gotten the best of us and we are so happy to be coming to the end. We have finally finished all the tile, the painting and the cabinets. They came and put in our counter tops, and appliances and we will be getting carpet tomorrow. So as much as you guys are probably done hearing about the house..we are done working on it and will hopefully be closing next Wednesday.

The finished product of the Kitchen, well we still have to get some bar stools and a table but it will come, hopefully soon.

This is the tile work in the Kitchen we also did 2 baths and the Laundry room. If you haven't done tile work before it is a big project and a very long process, but I think it turned out okay for beginners.

Tyler was very helpful when it came to cleaning the floors..in fact a little too helpful we had water everywhere, love you bug

My quirks

So I know Gina tagged me like forever ago..but I honestly have not had even 2 seconds to check my blog let alone respond to a post. So I'm sorry I'm finally getting around to it.

~ Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

~ Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

~ Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.
1.I too have a weird quirk that drives Kevin crazy: I like to pick at things, like whenever I have a zit(which by the way I have gotten way more of those things in the last month than I ever did as a teenager..everybody says it's from stress, but it's still makes me crazy) I have to pop it and pick at it until it's gone. I know it's gross and I probably shouldn't admit it, but it's true. I also like to pick at scabs, I even try to do it to Kev sometimes and he gets so mad. Sorry Honey..I will try to stop.

2. I am somewhat of a clean freak, what can I say I like to have a clean house..let's face it at this point I would just like to have a house. But I'm not one of those deep cleaning type of people I just like to surface clean a lot. And things have to be put away at night before I go to bed and the bed has to be made in the morning. Except on Tuesdays because I leave for work before Kevin and I have yet to come home to a bed made. But lo and behold I have to make it even at 8:00 at night.

3. I also am not a morning person. (G we are more alike than I thought) my alarm clock is Tyler and I don't get up a second before. My sister in law puts it this way--enjoy it while you can because before you know it you'll be getting up at 6am to get them off to school. Thanks Holly for helping me not to feel so guilty.

4. I am very stubborn and usually have to be right..Kevin can attest to this. I don't mean to be that way but when I feel strongly about something I stand my ground. I think that I have gotten better through our married years, but I'm sure I still have work to do.

5. I am some what of a perfectionist.. I wouldn't say it's to the point that I need help, but I like things to look good. I think that I have rubbed off on Kev a little because when we were doing the tile in our house he must have re cut about every 4th piece of tile because it was a little off. I'm glad that he had the patience, because I know we will enjoy it more now.

6. I am not your typical girl to buy chocolates for on Valentine's day. I'm just not a big fan of chocolate, If I have chocolate it has to be chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Other than that I would prefer some other form of sweets.

I am tagging....Lindsay H., Nikki V., Lindsay C., Tiffany S., Rachel P., Melissa P.

The count down is starting

Update with the house--

Things have been moving rather quickly, and we couldn't be happier. They have almost completely finished the exterior of the house..minus the stucco which should be happening in the next few days. Other than that the siding, the roof, the windows..you know, everything that goes into a house is done.

On the inside--they have finished framing and wiring, insulating, as well as sheet rock, taping and mudding. I think they have one more coat of mudding and sanding to do and then it will be time to paint. Starting next Friday and Saturday we will be painting all the baseboards white (rest of house will be tan..well minus a few rooms that I will add a little more color to). I know this is a tedious job and many people have recommended not to do it, but we figured it would be a lot easier than trying to paint 10+ foot walls in the Kitchen and Front room. Plus they are letting us do it before they install carpet which will be 10x's easier. We will also be installing tile in all the bathrooms, laundry room, entry way, and Kitchen. This is going to be a big job, but we wanted it to look nice and couldn't afford to upgrade to tile. So we are counting on family and friends and anyone who is willing to help to get this done. We only have one week..because the following weekend we have my brother and uncle installing all of our cabinets. I am very excited for this because we are doing different colors throughout the house instead of it being all the same as it would be with the builder. So it will make our Kitchen a little unique and different from the rest of our neighbors, (no offense Jen and Aaron).

So my project for this week is making curtains for a few of the windows in the house. I finally went to NPS that everyone has been raving about and found some amazing fabric, that I got at a great deal. So I am very excited to make them and put them up in our home. I also have been painting a few things for the house and found some great candlesticks at Smith's Marketplace for a good deal..which I painted black, and then I found some candles to put on them that will match the colors in the fabric. So.. it's coming along and I can't wait to move in and put it all together.

I will post more pics of the tile and cabinets once we get them in.. but for now these are a few pics of the progress.

week four..

week six..

week six..

week eight..back of house

week eight..front of house

Hello, Goodbye, Luau

This weekend was full of fun for us..we had family fly in from Arizona, Uncle Jim and Aunt Geri. Well Jim is a pilot, and flys his own plane. So they flew into the Woods Cross Airport and we went to pick them up. Tyler got to sit in the plane and where headphones. He was a little hesitant at first, but then by Sunday when they left he wanted to fly home with them. Some of the other grand kids were over so we went to see them off..and they all took turns sitting in the plane with Uncle Jim. It was a lot of fun to get up that close to an airplane, not that I would ever want to fly in it, because I would be scared to death and very claustrophobic. But we had a great time with them and hope to be able to go and visit them in Arizona someday. We love you Jim and Geri.


We also had our Ward Luau we were in charge of this weekend. It seemed to turn out great, we had quite a few people show up, but of course not as many as we planned on. We had a lot of help from our committee this time..we had most of the food catered by the Jackson's, we had the Levin's in charge of decorations (great job Emily), and the Padget's did pinatas for the kids. I know it doesn't really go with a Luau, but all kids love pinatas. Thank you Thank you for every body's help, and for all those who came and supported us, we think it turned out great.

Swimming

Here are a few random pics of us swimming this summer. I put Tyler in Swim lessons for the summer, at the rec center. He seemed to really enjoy it and he caught on really quick. So since then we have been multiple times swimming. We also have went out to the Kearns Rec Center..where my mom has a season pass. Tyler really enjoys it there, because they have a really big bucket that fills up with water and then dumps out all over the splash pad. He isn't brave enough to go under it, but every time the bell rings to alert you that it's falling he comes running to watch it.

My cute little swimmer

Finally Daddy came swimming with us, I think he enjoyed it just as much as Tyler

Swimming with the Wilkey's, the Catenzaro's, Grandma, Meisha, and just us.

Fountains and summer fun

On Friday we went to the Gateway with the Catenzaro's. Of course neither Tyler or Aria were that interested in the fountains, even though it was 100 degrees outside. We have made a few trips to the fountains this summer and for some reason Tyler just doesn't care for it. This is a total shock to me, because at home he is constantly playing in the water and getting wet. But oh well I guess..Gina and I did get some shopping in, which is always a plus.

I haven't been that great about blogging since we've been living with the in laws..mainly because everything is chaotic. I don't know where half my stuff is, we don't have our computer set up so I don't have all my pics, and we can't get the wireless to work on the laptop. It's so frustrating living in transition, but hopefully that will be over soon, only two more months. So here are some pics of the random things we have been doing this summer. Tyler spends every day outside..for as long as we will allow and even that doesn't seem to be enough for him. He likes to help Grandma and Grandpa with projects. They have been working on their fence as well as putting pavers in, and of course Tyler has to be right there. He also likes to spend time riding his new tricycle and Chance's tractor, or 4 wheeling with uncle Mike. We are hoping to go camping over Labor day and ride more 4 wheelers..but we'll see. Anyway we hope you are all enjoying your summer as well..and trying to stay as cool as possible.

A glimpse of our life

Viewed from the eyes of Tyler. I found this on a friends blog and I thought it was so cute, (thanks Lindsay) so I wanted to include some things Tyler had to say. It's so funny what kids come up with.

What is something daddy says to you?
Tyler: I want some nilk. (milk)

What is something your mommy says to you?
Ty: Play nice

What makes daddy happy?
Ty: Basketball

What makes mommy happy?
Ty: Go outside (not in this heat.)

What makes daddy sad?
Ty: ...(no comment)

What makes mommy sad?
Ty: I don't know

How old is your dad?
Ty: 2 1/2

How old is your mom?
Ty: 2 1/2

How tall is daddy?
Ty: really tall

How tall is mommy?
Ty: short

What is daddy's favorite thing to do?
Ty: play games

What is mommy favorite thing to do?
Ty: to hold me

What does your daddy do when you're not around?
Ty: runs in circles

What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Ty: play with toys

What does your dad do for his job?
Ty: stays there

What does your mom do for her job?
Ty: mommy doesn't have a job

What is daddy's favorite food?
Ty: french fries (I'm not sure about this one)

What is mommy's favorite food?
Ty: Carrots (what... try Chinese food)

If your dad were a cartoon character who would he be?
Ty: Donald Duck

If your mom were a cartoon character who would she be?
Ty: Mickey Mouse

If your dad were an animal what would he be?
Ty: a horsey

If your mom were an animal what would she be?
Ty: a lion

If you were an animal what would you be?
Ty: a gorilla

It's Official

I know many of you have been wondering what the heck we are doing about a house..we have been on the fence about it, but it's decided and we are going to build with Hallmark. They broke ground on our home on July 10th and we can't wait for it to be done. We are going to do a lot of work on it ourselves to save money but definetly not stress! But I am very excited because that means I get to customized my Kitchen and I am so excited. Prospective finish date will be the first part of October. In the meantime we are just trying to save..save..save. and not go crazy with living with family. They have poured the footings and we stopped by to see it tonight. Tyler was having a ball climbing up the mounds of dirt and sliding down on his butt. We had a hard time getting him to leave. But it's the cutest thing, he keeps asking me "where's mommy's house?" and I have to explain that we are building a new house, so tonight when we went to see it he said "mommy's new house in the hole?" oh, how I love him!

The starting project...

Tyler climbing on the mounds of dirt..

and then sliding back down.